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Published: April 20th 2008
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April 16, 2008
Turkey
General comments
Turkey is a wonderful place to visit. There is a lot to do and a lot to see. The countryside we saw is beautiful, and varied, from almost desert to the beautiful mountains, the Mediterranean and Aegean coast and the very exciting city of Istanbul and the smaller cities and towns we visited.
We never visited the eastern side of Turkey or the Black Sea area and we are told it is also a very interesting and different experience. I suspect that that part of the country is a little less developed and poorer than the parts we visited. One of the most important industrial centers is east of Istanbul on the Black sea.
The food was excellent and varied in all the places we visited. ( We especially enjoyed the tomatoes ). Our greenhouses in North America should take some advice from these growers as they grow some great tasting tomatoes.
The history here is very old and very interesting from many thousands of years ago to some more familiar relatively recent 19th and 20th century events.
The Turks are very friendly and for the most part
accommodating despite some language issues. We were always able to make ourselves understood where ever we went. We felt relatively secure here with little crime. (Obviously there is the usual petty theft and pick pockets in the larger cities. As in any country you have to be careful ). Most hotels provided safety boxes in the rooms.
We left our arrangements in the hands of Rina at INSIGHT TRAVEL in Turkey and they did a very good job of organizing our trip with some very basic information from us on what new wanted to see and do in our time frame. In hindsight we would have tried to have a few less bus trips but to get to the places we wanted to see we had to be on the road a fair amount. A couple of hotels were 3 Star at best but acceptable for a short stay. Some of the smaller centers have limited 4 or 5 star places to stay.
There is some concern that Turkey will become a non secular country, and that it could have a government that is more controlled by Islam based ideology. At present this is a very tolerant society
and for the most part very accepting of most religious beliefs even though it is predominately a Muslim country. Quite frankly it would be a shame to see the country go this direction as it would lose a lot of its character if this was to happen. It is obvious to a visitor to this part of the world that the controls and rules in place in some other countries, like Egypt, do little to promote personal freedom and tolerance of others.
The Turks are to be complimented on their ideals while still being predominately devoutly Muslim.
All in all this was a very interesting and enjoyable part of our world adventure and we would recommend this as a very good place to visit with lots to see and do.
Maybe at a later date we will come back to see some of the places we missed this trip.
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